Chapter Number: 8 Brief Description of the Plot:
At the beginning of chapter 8, Tamoszius Kuszleika and Marija fall in love, even though Tamoszius is small and frail. Tamoszius is the fiddler who played at Jurgis and Ona's wedding. They decide to marry. Tamoszius and Marija both have jobs, so everything with the wedding is looking good. Suddenly, however, Marija’s canning factory shuts down and she loses her job. Jurgis is also having problems with his job. Sometimes, the men are made to work overtime without pay and when the demand for meat lessens, the men earn as little as thirty-five cents a day. Coming one minute late resluts in an hours loss of pay. All members of Jurgis’ family become union members because of their unhappiness with current working conditions. Jurgis tries bringing in other Lithuanians to the union, and becomes angry when they decline and show little interest in such matters. Jurgis attends union meetings regularly and is awe-struck by Tommy Finnegan, an Irish union man. Jurgis saw much promise in the union and likened it to a sort of religion. Characters in the Chapter: Tamoszius Kuszleika, Marija, Jurgis, Tommy Finnegan Notable Passages (Including Page Number): Page 83- "It was a great...Saturday nights." Hard work during day/week, while weekends bring new life and happier times, like slavery periods.
Page 84- "And they had not given...at least a month!" Utter lack of care for the workers in the business world.
Page 86- "One of the rules...no pay for him." Unfair treatment of workers.
Page 88- "Here, however, was a new religion...as a missionary." Importance of Union to Jurgis.
Brief Description of the Plot:
At the beginning of chapter 8, Tamoszius Kuszleika and Marija fall in love, even though Tamoszius is small and frail. Tamoszius is the fiddler who played at Jurgis and Ona's wedding. They decide to marry. Tamoszius and Marija both have jobs, so everything with the wedding is looking good. Suddenly, however, Marija’s canning factory shuts down and she loses her job. Jurgis is also having problems with his job. Sometimes, the men are made to work overtime without pay and when the demand for meat lessens, the men earn as little as thirty-five cents a day. Coming one minute late resluts in an hours loss of pay. All members of Jurgis’ family become union members because of their unhappiness with current working conditions. Jurgis tries bringing in other Lithuanians to the union, and becomes angry when they decline and show little interest in such matters. Jurgis attends union meetings regularly and is awe-struck by Tommy Finnegan, an Irish union man. Jurgis saw much promise in the union and likened it to a sort of religion.
Characters in the Chapter: Tamoszius Kuszleika, Marija, Jurgis, Tommy Finnegan
Notable Passages (Including Page Number): Page 83- "It was a great...Saturday nights." Hard work during day/week, while weekends bring new life and happier times, like slavery periods.
Page 84- "And they had not given...at least a month!" Utter lack of care for the workers in the business world.
Page 86- "One of the rules...no pay for him." Unfair treatment of workers.
Page 88- "Here, however, was a new religion...as a missionary." Importance of Union to Jurgis.